Program on State Agency Remote Sensing Data Management (SARSDM)

A planning study for developing a Missouri natural resources information system (NRIS) that combines satellite-derived data and other information to assist in carrying out key state tasks was conducted. Four focal applications -- dam safety, ground water supply monitoring, municipal water supply monitoring, and Missouri River basin modeling were identified. Major contributions of the study are: (1) a systematic choice and analysis of a high priority application (water resources) for a Missouri, LANDSAT-based information system; (2) a system design and implementation plan, based on Missouri, but useful for many other states; (3) an analysis of system costs, component and personnel requirements, and scheduling; and (4) an assessment of deterrents to successful technological innovation of this type in state government, and a system management plan, based on this assessment, for overcoming these obstacles in Missouri

Development and Implementation of Dynamic Scripts to Support Local Model Verification at National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices

Local modeling with a customized configuration is conducted at National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) to produce high-resolution numerical forecasts that can better simulate local weather phenomena and complement larger scale global and regional models. The advent of the Environmental Modeling System (EMS), which provides a pre-compiled version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and wrapper Perl scripts, has enabled forecasters to easily configure and execute the WRF model on local workstations. NWS WFOs often use EMS output to help in forecasting highly localized, mesoscale features such as convective initiation, the timing and inland extent of lake effect snow bands, lake and sea breezes, and topographically-modified winds. However, quantitatively evaluating model performance to determine errors and biases still proves to be one of the challenges in running a local model. Developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the Model Evaluation Tools (MET) verification software makes performing these types of quantitative analyses easier, but operational forecasters do not generally have time to familiarize themselves with navigating the sometimes complex configurations associated with the MET tools. To assist forecasters in running a subset of MET programs and capabilities, the Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center has developed and transitioned a set of dynamic, easily configurable Perl scripts to collaborating NWS WFOs. The objective of these scripts is to provide SPoRT collaborating partners in the NWS with the ability to evaluate the skill of their local EMS model runs in near real time with little prior knowledge of the MET package. The ultimate goal is to make these verification scripts available to the broader NWS community in a future version of the EMS software. This paper provides an overview of the SPoRT MET scripts, instructions for how the scripts are run, and example use cases

Implementing a Brief Intervention for Smoking Cessation in an Inpatient Psychiatric Facility

Abstract Problem: Smoking is a leading cause of various preventable diseases, and those who experience mental illness smoke cigarettes at a higher rate than the general population. Brief intervention is a type counseling that has proven successful in encouraging smokers to quit. The “5 A’s” is a type of brief intervention which stands for: Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange. Addressing the smoking epidemic among individuals with mental illness is not only essential for improving their overall well-being, but also for reducing health disparities and enhancing the effectiveness of existing mental health interventions. Methods: The approach to this project was a quality improvement initiative. Specifically, the design of this study was descriptive and survey based. Participants were selected from a convenience sample of adult patients hospitalized on an inpatient psychiatric unit. The flowsheet collected information regarding participants’ interest in quitting smoking, self-reported rating of their readiness to quit, interest in receiving pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic cessation tools, and receipt of follow-up information. Results: The number of self-identified smokers that received the full 5 A’s brief counseling intervention was 15 (n = 15), comprising 44.1% of all patients who reported smoking cigarettes (n = 34). Mean readiness to quit ratings were similar for each psychiatric diagnosis. Furthermore, findings suggest that diagnosis and 5 A’s receipt could be independent of one another. Implications for Practice: Patients on the inpatient psychiatric unit should be offered opportunities to receive education and support regarding smoking cessation. Smoking cessation initiatives may be equally beneficial to psychiatric patients regardless of diagnosis

Assessing exceedance of ozone standards: a space‐time downscaler for fourth highest ozone concentrations

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107366/1/env2273.pd

Efficient pairwise composite likelihood estimation for spatial‐clustered data

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108642/1/biom12199-sm-0001-SuppData.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108642/2/biom12199.pd